Lacing needle



April 1, 194f7- -A. J. J. VAN AKKx-:Rfl-:N 2,418,377

LACING NEEDLE Filed Oct. 5l, 1945 Patented Apr. 1, 1947 LACING NEEDLE Antonius J. J. van Akkeren, The Hague, Netherlands, assgncr of one-half to Nicolaas Klaassc Bos, Voorburg, Netherlands Application October 31, 1945, Serial No. 625,806 In the Netherlands August 26, 1939 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a needle by means of which a lace, a thread, a cord or the like (hereinafter referred to as lace) can be introduced, for instance, into the hem of an article of dress. Known needles of this type are provided with an eye for receiving the end of the lace. For threading the needle, the end portion of the lace must be sharply bent through 180, so that the width of the eye must be at least twice the thickness of the lace. Another disadvantage of such a needle is that threading the needle requires a comparatively considerable length of the lace to be passed through the eye to prevent the lace from disengaging the needle under the pull exerted thereon during the lacing operation, so that any damage` of the lace caused by a sharp edge of the eye occurs at a relatively great distance from the end thereof, so that a rather great length has to be cut olf as waste.

Our present invention has for its object to obviate the said disadvantages. With this object in view, the invention consists herein that the needle is tted, near its rear end, with a slide and that the gap between needle and slide tapers from the rear to the front. Preferably, the needle is further provided, in the rear of the slide, with a projection just opposite the gap. The lace overlies the projection and when the slide with the inserted end of the lace is drawn rearwardly, it cooperates with the projection to bind the lace against separation from the needle during the lace drawing operation through th article.

The drawing illustrates, by way of example only, a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 being a side elevation and Fig. 2 a top View thereof.

The needle shown is constituted as a flat metal strip 3, the point 4 of which is rounded off. Near its rear end its width is reduced through an appropriate length a. This reduced portion serves as a guide for a slide 5, which is thus capable of performing restricted lengthwise movement relative to the needle. The width of the gap 6 intermediate the top face of the needle and the slide gradually decreases from the rear end, where it exceeds the thickness of the lace, towards the front end, where it is smaller than said thickness.

If the slide is in its froward end position, and

assuming the end of the lace to have been introduced, from the rear, into the gap 6, a slight rearward movement of the slide relative to the needle will rmly clamp the lace between the needle and the slide. Any pull exerted on the lace will tend to increase this clamping effect, so that it is impossible for the lace to disengage the needle during the lacing operation. For disengaging the lace, all that is required is moving the slide in forward direction relative to the needle.

The drawing also shows a projection Tl on the top face of the reduced needle portion a. and near the rear end thereof, the height of said projection being somewhat smaller than the width of gap 6 at said end. When the slide 5 with the inserted lace is drawn back over the projection on which the lace rests, the lace is bound between the slide 5 and projection 'l to prevent the lace from separation from the needle during the lace-drawing operation into and through the hem of the article to which it is being applied.

What I claim is:

A lacing-needle provided near its rear end with a slide to leave a gap between slide and needle, the width of the gap decreasing from the rear end to the front end thereof, said needle being provided in the rear of the slide and opposite the gap with a projection whose height is smaller than the width of the gap at the rear end thereof, the slide and projection operating to bind the lace in operative connection with the needle.

ANTONIUS J. J. VAN AKKEREN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 670,445 Cripe Mar. 26, 1901 1,834,611 Gatlin Dec, 1, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 154,319 German Sept. 17, 1904 408,848 British Apr, 19, 1934 

